Baroque Music

Overview The word “baroque" came from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning ”distorted pearl.” Baroque music forms a major portion of the classical music canon, being widely studied, performed, and listened to. Composers of the baroque era include Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, Jean- Baptiste Lully, Arcangelo Corelli, Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Philippe Rameau and Henry Purcell.

Overview During the period, composers and performers used more elaborate musical ornamentation, made changes in musical notation, and developed new instrumental playing techniques. Baroque music expanded the size, range, and complexity of instrumental performance, and also established opera as a musical genre. Many musical terms and concepts from this era are still in use today.

Early Baroque music (1600–1654) It is conventionally accepted that the division between the Renaissance and the Baroque period began in Italy with the formation of the Florentine Camerata, group of humanists, musicians, poets and intellectuals in late Renaissance Florence who gathered under the patronage of Count Giovanni de' Bardi to discuss and guide trends in the arts, especially music and drama. With regards to music, their ideals were based on their perception of Classical (especially ancient Greek) musical drama, in which discourse and oration was viewed with much importance.

Early baroque music (1600–1654) As such, they rejected the complex polyphony of the late Renaissance and sought to revive an ancient Greek form of musical drama known as a monody, which consisted primarily of a simple solo melody alongside by a basic accompaniment. The early realizations of these ideas, including Jacopo Peri's Dafne and L'Euridice, marked the beginning of opera, which in turn can be considered to have marked the catalyst of Baroque music.

The demands of religion were also to make the text of sacred works clearer, and hence there was pressure to move away from the densely layered polyphony of the Renaissance, to lines which put the words front and center, or had a more limited range of imitation. This created the demand for a more intricate weaving of the vocal line against backdrop, or homophony. Claudio Monteverdi – the most visible of a generation of composers who felt that there was a secular means to this "modern" approach to harmony and text – In 1607 his opera L'Orfeo became the landmark which demonstrated the array of effects and techniques that were associated with this new school, called seconda pratica, to distinguish it from the older style or prima pratica.

Middle baroque music (1654–1707) The rise of the centralized court is one of the economic and political features of what is often labeled the Age of Absolutism, personified by Louis XIV of France. The style of palace, and the court system of manners and arts which he fostered, became the model for the rest of Europe. The realities of rising church and state patronage created the demand for organized public music, as the increasing availability of instruments created the demand for chamber music. This included the availability of keyboard instruments.

The middle Baroque is separated from the early Baroque by the coming of systematic thinking to the new style and a gradual institutionalization of the forms and norms, particularly in opera. The middle Baroque, in music theory, is identified by the increasingly harmonic focus of musical practice and the creation of formal systems of teaching. Music was an art, and it came to be seen as one that should be taught in an orderly manner.

Middle Baroque Composers Jean-Baptiste Lully – One pre-eminent example of a court style composer – career rose dramatically when he collaborated with Molière on a series of comédie-ballets, that is, plays with dancing. – He used this success to become the sole composer of operas for the king. – Musically, he explored contrast between stately and fully orchestrated sections, and simple recitatives and airs. He also established the string-dominated norm for orchestras.

Arcangelo Corelli – Corelli was one of the first composers to publish widely and have his music performed all over Europe. – remembered as influential for his achievements on the other side of musical technique— as a violinist who organized violin technique and pedagogy— and in purely instrumental music, particularly his advocacy and development of the concerto grosso. concerto grosso is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the concertino) and full orchestra (the ripieno).

As with Lully's stylization and organization of the opera, the concerto grosso is built on strong contrasts— sections alternate between those played by the full orchestra, and those played by a smaller group. Dynamics were "terraced", that is with a sharp transition from loud to soft and back again. Fast sections and slow sections were juxtaposed against each other.

Henry Purcell – despite dying at age 36, produced a profusion of music and was widely recognized in his lifetime. – Purcell was familiar with the innovations of Corelli and other Italian style composers; however, his patrons were different, and his musical output was prodigious. – Purcell was a fluid composer who was able to shift from simple anthems and useful music such as marches, to grandly scored vocal music and music for the stage. – His catalogue runs to over 800 works. He was also one of the first great keyboard composers, whose work still has influence and presence.

Late baroque music (1680–1750) The dividing line between middle and late Baroque is a matter of some debate. – Dates for the beginning of "late" baroque style range from 1680 to In no small part this is because there was not one synchronized transition; different national styles experienced changes at different rates and at different times. – Italy is generally regarded as the first country to move to the late baroque style. The important dividing line in most histories of baroque music is the full absorption of tonality as a structuring principle of music.

The forms which had begun to be established in the previous era flourished and were given wider range of diversity— – concerto, suite, sonata, concerto grosso, oratorio, opera and ballet all saw a proliferation of national styles and structures. – The overall form of pieces was generally simple, with repeated binary forms (AABB), simple three part forms (ABC), and rondeau.

Late Baroque Composers Antonio Vivaldi – Vivaldi's reputation came not from having an orchestra or court appointment, but from his published works, including trio sonatas, violin sonatas and concerti. They were published in Amsterdam and circulated widely through Europe. – It is in these instrumental genres of baroque sonata and baroque concerto, which were still evolving, that Vivaldi's most important contributions were made.

– He settled on certain patterns, such as a fast-slow- fast three-movement plan for works, and the use of ritornello in the fast movements, and explored the possibilities in hundreds of works— 550 concerti alone. – He also used programmatic titles for works, such as his famous "The Four Seasons" violin concerti. Vivaldi's career reflects a growing possibility for a composer to be able to support himself by his publications, tour to promote his own works, and have an independent existence.

Domenico Scarlatti One of the leading keyboard virtuosi of his day, who took the road of being a royal court musician, first in Portugal and then, starting in 1733, in Madrid, Spain, where he spent the rest of his life. Scarlatti also wrote operas and church music, but it is the publication of his keyboard works, which spread more widely after his death, which have secured him a lasting place of reputation. Many of these works were written for his own playing but others for his royal patrons.